


free dance hair and makeup

by resistate



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: (implied and poorly negotiated) Polyamory, 2018 CS Autumn Classic International, Alcohol, F/F, Friendship, Jealousy, Light Angst, Pining, TTYCT-adjacent, background Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir, the author of this fic does not endorse Kaitlyn Weaver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 22:15:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18302933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resistate/pseuds/resistate
Summary: Tessa steps closer and runs her hand gently over Kaitlyn's hair, from temple to ends, before twining a lock between her fingers. 'You really kept your free dance hair and makeup,' she says softly.





	free dance hair and makeup

//

Kaitlyn gets Andrew to take the photo while they're waiting for their ride to the airport. It's a view of her back, the logo on the Thank You Canada jacket she's wearing clearly visible. Andrew sends it to her and she adds it to her Instagram story with the caption _on the way with FD hair and makeup_. It’s never too early to start doing her part to promote the show and besides, she’s excited.

She checks her phone while they're waiting for their flight to board. She has dozens of new messages, mostly from people congratulating her for winning gold at the Autumn Classic. Kaitlyn dutifully responds with _Thank you! Andrew and I are so happy!_ and a varying selection of emoji depending on how close she is to the person she’s responding to. Laura, her favourite cousin, gets hearts and confetti; the annoying woman in Kaitlyn's weekend yoga class, who only has her number because Kaitlyn once did a good deed involving a mass cancellation message, gets the plainest smiley face in Kaitlyn's collection.

She's about to put her phone away when another message pops up. It's from Tessa.

_Congratulations!!! We should celebrate. Dinner at mine? I'll cook. (Unless you’re going to laugh. Please don't laugh?) It would be good to see you (and your hair and makeup)._

Kaitlyn stares at her screen. Tessa’s punctuated her message with a mixture of confetti and heart emoji. Kaitlyn’s not sure what to make of any of it. She puts her phone away before Andrew can see her face and ask what's wrong.

//

They land in Montréal an hour and a half later. Kaitlyn had napped on the flight, the post-competition crash finally catching up with her. She’d dozed, really, slipping in and out of consciousness, head lolling on Andrew's shoulder. After they collect their luggage Kaitlyn suggests they grab a coffee before heading out. If they hang back they can probably avoid the worst of the traffic, is how she sells it to Andrew. They order coffees from a small chain in the arrivals area, and they just won a gold medal, even if it was only at a Challenger Series competition, so fuck it. Kaitlyn orders a pastry. After a second Andrew orders one too, and Kaitlyn gives him a high five, because go Andrew. Andrew didn't sleep on the plane and he's sleepy quiet now, which suits Kaitlyn's mood just fine. She plays with the cardboard sleeve on her paper cup, rotating it between her palms until her coffee is cool enough to drink.

They finish their coffees and pastries and Andrew asks Kaitlyn if she wants to stop off anywhere before they head to their hotel.

Kaitlyn takes a deep breath. Exhales. Wipes her palms on her jeans. 'Actually, I was going to head over to Tessa's.'

Andrew pauses from stacking their garbage on their tray but doesn't say anything. He gets up to throw out the garbage and return their tray, and Kaitlyn sends Tessa a quick message.

She's got their luggage together when Andrew gets back to the table. Tessa's is on the way to their hotel, more or less, so they share a lift. In the car Andrew tells her that the coffee's woken him up a bit. Kaitlyn thinks that hers has made her feel jittery, like she’s all over nerve endings. She digs through her purse until she finds a tube of lipstick and folds her fingers over it like it’s a talisman. Andrew tries to talk to her about training for the tour, but Kaitlyn keeps accidentally letting her side of the conversation slide. She probably needs more than the little sleep she got on the plane.

Their car pulls off the major road and onto one of the smaller, quieter streets in Tessa's neighbourhood. It's then that Andrew says, 'Kaitlyn—' He gives up when she won’t meet his eyes, keeping whatever he was going to say to himself. When their car pulls up in front of Tessa's building, Andrew says, 'Just—be careful, okay?'

Kaitlyn is not being careful. She’s being reckless, just a little, and they both know it. She kisses Andrew on the cheek. 'See you later,' she tells him.

//

Tessa opens the door wearing an honest-to-god apron. She takes it off to hug Kaitlyn, 'so I don't get sauce all over you.' Tessa smells like oregano and lipstick and the same gardenia-scented shampoo she's been using for years. Tessa, Kaitlyn knows, is a creature of habit. Except—

'You cut your hair,' Kaitlyn says stupidly. She steps back to take Tessa in. Her hair is still long, reaching well past her shoulders, but it's definitely not as long as it was the last time Kaitlyn saw her.

'Oh, yeah,' says Tessa, bringing the ends up to her face to examine it. 'A while ago, before I went to France.'

Kaitlyn knows, because Ashley said, that Tessa went to Paris and Provence back in August. Tessa’s hair ends in a long sharp line as if she's had it cut again, more recently.

'How was Paris?' Kaitlyn asks.

'Fabulous,' Tessa says, decisively. 'Wine?'

'Sure,' Kaitlyn says. She follows Tessa into the kitchen where a pot of tomato sauce and herbs is bubbling wildly on the stovetop. Kaitlyn turns the burner down and stirs the sauce with the wooden spoon she takes from a plate resting on the counter.

Tessa gets two wine glasses down from a cupboard and a bottle of white from the fridge. The latter she tilts toward Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn nods, and Tessa pours. She passes one of the glasses to Kaitlyn.

'I always forget you don't follow me on Instagram,' she says.

Kaitlyn blinks; spends a moment flipping through their conversation to figure out where that came from. Tessa must have posted photos after she’d cut her hair. 'I really only use it for work,' she lies. 'I think your sauce is done.' She can hear it bubbling wildly again despite her earlier intervention.

'Oh, wow, it definitely is,' says Tessa. 'Make yourself at home, this will be ready soon.'

Kaitlyn offers to help, out of politeness and also, she admits to herself, a desire to get an edible meal. But Tessa says she's fine, it'll only be a minute, so Kaitlyn takes her glass of wine over to the living room windows and looks out over the treetops at Montréal. It’s such a Tessa place to live, really. The most sophisticated city in the country, by reputation, by far, but still in Canada. Fashion, and food she doesn't have to cook are other attractions, Kaitlyn is sure.

Tessa announces that dinner is ready and Kaitlyn joins her at the table. Tessa’s kitchen is tiny and there’s no dining room, so they eat the far end of the living room from the windows. Tessa's plates match, because of course they do. Kaitlyn's do too, now, but Tessa's always have. Tessa lights two candles before she sits down and Kaitlyn doesn't know what to think, so she focuses on eating the pasta with chicken and out-of-season asparagus that Tessa's made. It's good. She says this to Tessa, trying not to sound surprised. Tessa laughs, and Kaitlyn knows she's been caught out. It’s getting dark enough outside that Kaitlyn can’t avoid noticing the candles. Tessa glows in the soft light, so much so that Kaitlyn has to look away.

'That's why I didn't want you to help, so I could take all the credit. Plus, you shouldn't have to cook your own celebratory dinner,' Tessa says. She tells Kaitlyn she's been trying to get better at cooking. Belatedly, Kaitlyn realises she should have brought something for dessert, or at least a bottle of wine. 'But you brought yourself,' says Tessa, like this is absolutely good enough, and Kaitlyn doesn't think about it, just gets up from her chair and goes to Tessa. She wraps her arms around Tessa’s shoulders and Tessa puts a warm hand on Kaitlyn’s forearm and squeezes.

Tessa asks Kaitlyn about her day. Kaitlyn sits back down and tells Tessa about how perfect it felt to be able to skate a tribute to Denis, despite how emotionally draining it had been. Kaitlyn asks Tessa about Provence, and Tessa tells her how perfect it felt to be able to relax but also that she’d felt at a loss sometimes time knowing there was nothing she had to do, no schedule she had to keep. And on top of that she’d picked the one month of the year when there was no ballet to go to Paris. Tessa rolls her eyes, making fun of her own complaints, and Kaitlyn laughs. It's one thing they've always had in common, a love of dance.

Kaitlyn helps Tessa clear the table once they’ve finished eating. 'Leave the dishes,' Tessa says, when Kaitlyn starts rinsing plates in the sink. 'I'll get them later. What about popcorn for dessert and a movie?'

They take their glasses with them to the couch and Tessa brings up Netflix. They settle on a recent release that neither of them had managed to catch in theatres. Kaitlyn can’t remember the last time she managed to make it to the movies, actually. Tessa says she’s managed to catch a couple of things this year, and Kaitlyn can’t figure out why Tessa telling her something so benign affects her as much as it does, until she realises it’s another way that their lives don’t line up anymore.

Tessa leans her head on Kaitlyn's shoulder and Kaitlyn shifts so Tessa will have a better angle for her neck. It's going to be difficult to reach the table without disturbing Tessa so Kaitlyn stays as still as she can, leaving her glass untouched. After a while Tessa sits up and takes her glass from the coffee table. She settles back next to Kaitlyn but doesn’t curl into her this time.

Kaitlyn finishes her own glass and sets it on one of the coasters that match not only each other but the décor. Tessa touches Kaitlyn's wrist and asks if she wants more. Her fingers are cool and light and seem to Kaitlyn to linger. She glances at Tessa, but Tessa’s eye is caught by something on the screen. Kaitlyn says yes. Tessa pauses the movie and heads to the kitchen, and Kaitlyn uses the opportunity to use the washroom. She goes back to the living room when she’s done, figuring that's where Tessa will be, but she's not; she's in the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards, clearly looking for something. 'I forgot about the popcorn,' Tessa says, frowning. 'I don't think there is any though.'

There are two champagne flutes on the counter. 'You were going to serve popcorn in those things?' Kaitlyn asks.

Tessa laughs. 'We didn't celebrate your win.’

She must have opened the bottle when Kaitlyn was washing her hands; she doesn't remember hearing the pop. Tessa pours the champagne expertly and they clink glasses. 'Congratulations,' Tessa says softly. Kaitlyn leans against the counter, enjoying the fizzy sensation of the bubbles on her tongue, her throat. 'Oh, watch out for the cork,' Tessa says suddenly. 'I'm not sure where it went.'

This startles a laugh out of Kaitlyn. Tessa smiles. She steps closer and runs her hand gently over Kaitlyn's hair, from temple to ends, before twining a lock between her fingers. 'You really kept your free dance hair and makeup,' Tessa says softly. It sounds like a question, almost, and Kaitlyn nods, not trusting herself to speak. Her hair is still twisted behind her head and secured with bobby pins and an elastic, her curls from earlier having fallen into waves. She had run a brush lightly over her roots and ends to calm her flyaways and had been pleased, looking in the mirror on her way up, that she’d managed to keep the shape and style mostly intact.

Now Tessa moves her hand from Kaitlyn's hair to cup her cheek, and it’s funny, Kaitlyn thinks, that what was once so familiar now feels almost alien. Tessa leans in slowly, so slowly that Kaitlyn could pull away if she wanted to. She doesn't move. Tessa kisses Kaitlyn, her breath soft against Kaitlyn's mouth. Kaitlyn doesn't kiss back. Tessa takes her mouth off of Kaitlyn's and says, 'I'm sorry, I didn't—' and maybe Kaitlyn wanted to hear her say that one thing, one time, because she doesn’t let her finish, just leans in and kisses Tessa.

Tessa's mouth opens up easily under Kaitlyn's. Kaitlyn knows not everything is as easy for Tessa as she makes it seem, but Kaitlyn resents her a little anyway, for making this seem easy when Kaitlyn finds it anything but.

Kaitlyn comes for the first time that night pressed up against Tessa's kitchen counter, Tessa struggling with the angle and the tight fit of Kaitlyn’s jeans; Kaitlyn not giving her room to manoeuver. Her pelvis is jammed against Tessa’s hand and Tessa’s fingers finally manage to pull Kaitlyn’s underwear out of the way, Tessa making a sharp, satisfied noise when she discovers how wet Kaitlyn is. She comes embarrassingly quickly, given the circumstances. There are Nivea Men products all over the Tessa's bathroom counter, and Kaitlyn toed out of her sneakers right beside shoes far too big to belong to Tessa, and there's a case of a brand of pop that Tessa refuses to drink sitting on the kitchen counter next to the microwave. She hadn't that known Tessa and Scott are living together, but clearly they are.

Kaitlyn and Andrew have lived together for years, because it's convenient, and comfortable. They've always gotten along well, and it's always made sense, and it's never meant anything. Kaitlyn’s pretty sure it does for Tessa and Scott.

When she closes her eyes it’s just her and Tessa. Tessa is quiet, except for quick, shallow breaths, and Kaitlyn is quiet too, swallowing Tessa’s name when she comes.

Tessa wraps her arms around Kaitlyn, and it hurts more than it should, Kaitlyn thinks, how well Tessa knows her.

'Bedroom?' Tessa asks, her voice tight, and Kaitlyn nods against Tessa's hair, clutching Tessa's shoulders.

//

Afterwards, Tessa falls asleep curled into Kaitlyn's side, one arm flung over Kaitlyn's hips. Kaitlyn stares up at the ceiling and tries not to move. It's still warm enough that Tessa's bedroom window is open a couple of centimetres. She listens to Tessa breathe, to the odd car making its way down the otherwise quiet street. Tessa's clock radio says it's 9.13. It's Kaitlyn's first day training with the rest of the cast tomorrow and she should get going. She had that nap on the plane, though, so she lets herself stay a little longer. When the clock radio says it's 9.30 Kaitlyn extracts herself carefully and quietly and gathers her clothes up off the floor. She sits on the edge of the armchair in the corner to pull on her socks. She’s pretty sure this is a rental, but Tessa’s bedroom is still the kind of perfectly put-together room she could imagine Tessa posting to her Instagram, if Kaitlyn had the stomach to follow it.

Kaitlyn checks that Tessa's set her clock radio alarm since her phone, the last time Kaitlyn saw it, was on the coffee table in the living room. If Tessa's alarm is set then Kaitlyn can leave Tessa to sleep. It is, and Kaitlyn takes the blanket from the end of the bed, unfolds it, and places it over Tessa's shoulders. The way the yellow light warming the room turns instantly to inky darkness when she turns the bedside lamp off shouldn’t be surprising, but somehow it is. She almost turns the light back on, but she also wants Tessa to sleep. She leaves it, in the end.

In the bathroom, Kaitlyn borrows one of Tessa's hair elastics and pulls her hair up in a loose ponytail. Her free dance hair is long gone, the pins holding her hair off her face scattered and lost along with her own hair elastic. Kaitlyn scrubs at the pink on her cheek with some wet tissue before giving up and borrowing some of Tessa's make up remover. Her eyeshadow has travelled across half her face but all it’s done is make her skin glitter faintly. With the last of the lipstick she’d re-applied in the elevator scrubbed from her face she’s pale everywhere except for the bruises starting to come out on her collarbone. Kaitlyn pulls the collar of her shirt down to get a better look and then pulls it back up, hiding everything.

Kaitlyn is loading the dishwasher when she hears a key in the door. She's trying to be quiet so she doesn't wake Tessa, and the sudden noise startles her so much she almost drops the pan she's rinsing.

It's Scott. His face lights up when he sees her, and Kaitlyn can feel her mouth curve to match his smile on instinct. 'Kaitlyn, hi, congratulations,' he says, and wraps her up in a hug before he’s even taken off his shoes. 'Oh, leave that,' he adds when he notices the open dishwasher. 'We should celebrate, gold at Autumn Classic, eh? That's awesome.' He crosses to the fridge and pulls out a beer, offers it to Kaitlyn. She shakes her head. 'Is Tess still up?' he asks, like it's the most usual thing in the world for Kaitlyn to be in his kitchen at ten o'clock at night, loading his dishwasher while Tessa sleeps.

It’s not usual. Kaitlyn's never been sure exactly how much Scott knows about her and Tessa. Tessa talks about Scott all the fucking time. She clearly and publicly adores him, but she’s close-mouthed on the subject of intimacy and Kaitlyn had always assumed she was equally reticent when discussing the two of them with Scott. She feels suddenly stupid, standing uselessly by while Scott closes the dishwasher. He and Tessa are clearly sharing a lot more these days. Like this apartment. Like the rest of their lives, probably.

'Are you sure you don't want one?' Scott says, cracking open the beer with the bottle opener attached to his keychain. She’ll have to get another keychain for her collection now that they're in Montréal, she supposes. She shakes her head. 'I've got a ride coming.’

'Another time, then,' Scott says, like he actually wants it to happen.

'Definitely,' says Kaitlyn. They're going to be living in each other's pockets for the next three months, what with training and the show. They're definitely going to be hanging out together, all of the cast.

Kaitlyn pulls on her jacket and grabs her purse, and Scott hugs her goodbye and says he'll see her tomorrow. She arranges for a car from the lobby of Tessa's building. Her driver will be about ten minutes and it's a mild night, so Kaitlyn waits on the street, scrolling through her phone. She'd passed on looking at her Instagram notifications early because are so many of them, but now she flicks through them idly. Instagram user tessavirtue17 has liked her two of her posts since yesterday. Kaitlyn pauses, her finger tracing over Tessa's name. Every day for three months.

Three months. It’s not forever. She can do this.

She clicks the follow button.

//


End file.
